Going On Seventeen: A Drabble Collection
by Destined To Repeat
Summary: Six going on seventeen. Detective Conan drabbles from every edge of the spectrum; humor, angst, romance, and everything in between.
1. Arrogance

1--(Arrogance)

Kudo Shinichi always had all the answers.

He wasn't arrogant, per se, but he wasn't about to beg and grovel either. He was smart-- smarter than most of the Japanese Police Force and certainly smarter than the kids in his class. He prided himself on being one of the greatest detectives of the era.

No, he wasn't arrogant. He simply stated the facts. If those facts happened to be very flattering of him, he declared them as he would a stinging insult. And the facts were, that Kudo Shinichi always had all the answers. He never uttered the words 'I don't know' if he could help it.

"What are you going to do now?" Professor Agasa asked, after Conan had explained how he was poisoned and shrunk.

Conan looked down as if he had failed himself. In the one moment that he'd transformed from Shinichi to Conan, he had lost so many things:

Suddenly he didn't have his own voice. He didn't have his own body or dignity or confidence. He didn't have his own strength. Suddenly, he didn't have all the answers.

"I don't know," he said.


	2. Super

--Be aware: Large doses of mental crack may be detrimental to the mental development of children. Mentally.

2--(Super)

It was one of those slow, breezy days that don't seem to go much of anywhere. After many an intricate speculation, Conan came to the stunning realization that the ceiling was terribly intriguing and that he really should be giving it more of his attention.

It was white, as he noted dimly from his sprawled out vantage point on the bed. It was white, and slightly lumpy, and white, and slanted, and white, and blank, and… white.

Conan closed his eyes with a long-suffering sigh.

"I'm bored…" his childish voice whined aloud.

A thunderous, commanding voice rang out and one blue eye cracked half-open.

"Faster than a speeding bullet!" It exclaimed. "Stronger than a steaming locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound!"

Both bewildered eyes were wide open by then.

"Look up there!"

The boy complied, thoroughly confused.

"It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's-"

A large white blur crashed through the window. Conan fell off his bed with a thud. The new visitor leapt clumsily to his feet and struck a pose, his hat jutting out at an impossible angle. Meanwhile, Conan struggled to peel himself off the floor.

"—KAITOU-MAN!!!"


	3. Distance

3--(Distance)

She owed him nothing. He barely noticed her existence until she got on his nerves. Nothing bound them to one another.

So why did she still trail after him like a lost puppy?

In all honesty, she didn't know.

He was a brainless, clueless, reckless, hopeless ahou. He was constantly running off to find some new mystery and/or new way to get killed and worry her to death. He was a total, complete ahou.

So why had she gotten so jealous when she thought he had a crush on that detective girl (who turned out to actually be a boy)?

She didn't know.

She had read enough romance novels to take a stab at a hypothesis, but if it was true, why hadn't he figured it out yet?

'Hypothesis'… who was she kidding? Everyone already knew what was going on with them, including their parents, their friends… heck, even the little boy who was freeloading at the Mouri's knew she was in love. Heiji himself was the only one who didn't have the slightest clue. He really was an ahou.

So why did she wait for him?

Kazuha still didn't know.

He was a detective, darn it, so why hadn't he realized how she felt yet?

Not for the first time, Kazuha envied her friend Ran. Ran's childhood friend Shinichi had recently confessed that he loved her, and Ran had shyly admitted that she felt the same. They were meant to be, really.

Shinichi was an intelligent, observant detective, Kazuha grumbled. He didn't need not-so-subtle hints or 'gentle' nudges in the right direction. Over the years he and Ran were separated, he'd just realized the truth on his own! If that situation had been given to her and Heiji, would he have done that as well?

Of course not, because Heiji was an ahou. Why couldn't he be cool and rational like Shinichi?

But then, there were some things that Kazuha pitied Ran for. When (or if, as it were) Heiji came around, he'd be right there next to her. He wouldn't have to tell her how he felt over the telephone. They wouldn't be separated by distance. And after all, if Heiji was cool and rational, he wouldn't be Heiji, would he?

So until the moment he stopped being a stupid, thickheaded ahou, she could survive a few more days trailing after him like a lost puppy. She could live with getting jealous over the pettiest of suspicions. She could stand a few more ahou-yelling matches.

Until then, she could wait.


	4. Fearless

4--(Fearless)

The bomb was set to explode in ten seconds. It was strapped on top of an elevator in Tokyo tower. The two people in the elevator, a man and a child, were silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Conan," the man ventured finally. "Are you sure about this? Dozens of trained police officers have died trying to solve this bomber's insane riddles…"

Conan shook his head. "I'm just as sure as you are, Takagi-san. Of course I don't want to die. Besides, his riddles may be insane, but they're systematically insane. I won't bail out on all those people down there."

"But… aren't you scared? I'm an adult, and I've known since I joined the police force that I might go down in service. But you… you're just a kid who was unfortunate enough to get caught in this elevator." At the last word, Takagi knocked savagely at the metal walls.

"Why would I be?" The boy asked with a small smile. "Edogawa Conan owns nothing; everything I had, I've already lost. So what should I be afraid of? Dying? I have nothing left to give up, so I can't regret giving my life for what I believe in.

"I'm not brave," he went on, swinging his legs childishly into the hole on the elevator's roof. "I just don't have anything to be scared about."

Takagi stared up at the child, who tilted his head and stared back. "Who…" he finally managed, through a very dry mouth. "Who are you?"

After a moment, a wide, almost disconcerting grin spread across Conan's face. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you… in the afterlife."


	5. Hug

5--(Hug)

Shinichi figured he had gotten reasonably comfortable with his second childhood. He went to school, had a group of friends he hung out with (as little as possible, but still), as well as a fake identity and body. He thought he was ready for anything.

Then he met Haibara Ai.

Her unflappable attitude was what set him off most. She waited until the two of them were alone, looked him steadily in the eyes, and told him who she was, in a voice that was challenging him to try something.

As the night went on, he learned more and more about this Sherry, or, rather, Miyano Shiho. He discovered that her sister was the girl who'd been killed on one of his cases a while before. He found out that she was a prodigy in chemistry, and that she was only about his age. But most of all he realized that the self-confident persona that was so much like his own was just that- a façade.

After Conan had solved the case at the library that night, Agasa had the two shrunken geniuses sit down and explain everything.

"I am Sherry, the operative who created the drug that shrunk both of us," she stated, in the same irrefutable tone as the one she'd used when she had told him her codename. "I was in charge of confirming that you were dead, as your body was never found. I tried to break away from the Organization when they killed my sister, but they caught me and put me in a cell. I escaped by swallowing some extra pills I had in my pocket. So now I'm here," she concluded, a sort of dangerous edge to her voice.

Conan sat stock-still, not bothering to hide his shock.

Sherry sniffed. "I bet you hate me, but you'll just have to survive with an enemy around, because I'm not leaving-" She squeaked in surprise as a child's arms wrapped around her.

Shinichi gently tightened the hug with a small laugh. "How could I hate you? We're both victims here… and you seem like a really good person… I hope we can be friends."

Shiho's small body stayed rigid for a few more seconds before she finally let herself relax into the detective's embrace, hugging him back tentatively. Friends… It was a hopeful word, a word Shiho hadn't heard for years. But somehow… it fit. Friends…


	6. Innocent

6--(Innocent)

It was an innocent enough question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Conan and Ai glanced at each other and grinned ruefully.

Their second-grade teacher had recently been infatuated with having all the children write a journal, containing all their secrets and fears and dreams. Most of the students accepted the journal assignment with the vivid enthusiasm that came with youth, but the two not-children in the class were less than eager. The day's journal prompt only served to heighten their apathy. What did they want to be when they grew up? Really.

The other children were grinning and scribbling in their notebooks, a bright, childish gleam in their eyes. Ayumi was blushing and looking sideways at Conan every so often, and Ai knew that she was planning her wedding. Genta was scrawling as fast he could think of the words, licking his lips hungrily. Ai's lips curved ever so slightly. Food, she thought. Something about food.

Mitsuhiko had his pen behind his ear, looking out the window speculatively.

He'd make a good detective, Haibara decided. He'd be nowhere near as talented as Kudo-kun, but he could be a wonderful police officer… Ai turned to Conan. He looked up from his journal, grinned, shrugged somewhat helplessly, and returned to trying to make his handwriting look like that of a seven-year-old.

Sherry huffed softly. Kudo-kun was probably writing about being a detective. She glared at her blank page, willing it to write itself. When that didn't work, she sighed resignedly, and wrote, _when I grow up, I want to be a chemist; I plan to have a big sister and join an evil organization, where I will develop a drug that shrinks people. I will end up killing and breaking many people. But then the organization will probably kill my sister and I guess I would try to run away…_

Haibara ripped the page out, tore it into tiny pieces, and then threw them out. Then she lifted her chin imperiously and went back to her seat.

Ai found the whole exercise stupid- she knew that by then, she'd never lead a normal life of her choosing.

She envied the innocent faith of the children. They could plan and change their future; she was trapped in a sort of timeless limbo. But for some reason, the more she came to know the kids, the less she wanted to give up on the dreams that she had formerly thought were ridiculous. She picked up her pencil.

_When I grow up, I want to be a chemist._

She thought of Kudo-kun. He had more than enough reason to hate her, but he didn't. Why not?

Because he didn't want to give up either.

_I want to create an antidote that will help a friend of mine._

With a small smile, Ai added,

_When I grow up, I want to be someone my friends can depend on._


	7. Remember

7--(Remember)

Shinichi was back.

Haibara had finally created the antidote, but for some reason, she didn't take it. Conan did, however, and he was completely overjoyed at finally returning home. Ran was too, after she'd kissed him, then slapped him across the face, then hugged him so hard he thought he was going to suffocate, and then burst out crying.

_Girls_, Shinichi mused, hugging her with an expression of open perplexity. _The mystery I'm never going to be able to solve. _

Once she had calmed down, they went to a coffee shop. He promised he wouldn't walk out on her this time, even if there was a murder.

"Really?" she asked, disbelieving.

"Yup," he said solemnly. "If there was a murder, I'd be _running_."

He laughed as he dodged a punch to the head.

The two of them had a good time talking and flirting (pretty obviously too), and all was reasonably standard until a small box slipped out of Shinichi's pocket while he was reaching over to get a napkin.

The detective hadn't realized what had happened, so Ran glanced at him suspiciously, and then she carefully opened the package under the table.

Inside were a gorgeous silver locket and a note. Ran's heart sped up, and her fingers fumbled as she unfolded the paper.

Her eyes widened as she read the messy scrawl.

'Dear Sweety-pumpkin,'

Sweety-Pumpkin? She thought, raising an eyebrow.

'I hear you're going back to that Mouri girl tonight. I wish you all the luck in the world.

'You see, I'm not bitter. I know your love for me was only a short spurt of longing, and I accept that. But I will never forget those nights we spent together.

I will always be devoted to only you, Honey-cookie. You are my only love.

'All of luck with Mouri-chan.

Forever Yours, your Lover.'

"Ran…?" Shinichi asked, titling his head toward her in confusion.

Ran looked up with a sickeningly sweet smile. "So, who's this lover of yours? You still haven't told me what you've been up to since you left four years ago."

"Huh? Lover?"

Ran shoved the letter in his face, barely resisting the urge to punch him. Several times.

He quickly scanned the paper and paled. "It's not what you-"

"You gave her a pretty nice necklace, too," she went on, fingering the chain calmly. "Too bad she gave it back. Maybe you were planning on giving it to me because she wouldn't accept it?"

"No!" Shinichi cried. "You don't understand!"

"Oh, I understand," Ran said, smiling pleasantly. "I understand this is from another woman!"

"That's not-!" Shinichi wailed, ducking a fist. Out of desperation, he grabbed the letter and necklace. He waved the letter like a shield. "This isn't even from a girl! It's from a guy! A GUY!"

Ran froze. She stared at him wide-eyed. "Oh… S-Shinichi… I had no idea you were like that…."

"What?! NO!"

The detective looked like he wanted to rip the letter to shreds. "This is from my cousin Kaito. He's an idiot. He likes nothing more than making fun of me. I gave him money and asked him to get some jewelry for you." Then he muttered, "He's the one who knows about that kind of stuff…."

"Seriously Ran," he continued, halfway to babbling. "He's practically engaged to that friend of his, Aoko… I wanted to surprise you with this, but… you know… uh…"

He looked away and held the necklace out, his face bright red.

"So you won't forget me next time I go away," he muttered, scratching his cheek uncomfortably.

He knew the day would come eventually. The Black organization hadn't been brought to justice yet, and he knew he would have to face them one way or another. He was happy, after everything. He had met so many people and learned so much. He had no regrets, whatever happened. But he did want this one thing. Just one selfish need…

Ran stared at the necklace, her heart churning. She didn't want him to go. She was certain, somehow, that he was involved in something dark and unfathomable; something that could easily claim him as it had many others. But she also knew that he wouldn't be Shinichi if she bound him in one place. He was a stupid, reckless, idiotic detective geek.

But he was her stupid, reckless, idiotic detective geek.

She took the locket, opened it, and saw the small picture of them together inside. She hugged it to her chest with a bittersweet smile.

"Thank you," she said.


	8. Payment

8--(Payment)

Kaito was very satisfied.

This was usually a respectable reason to start backing away.

He had flipped the skirts of half the girls in the class, decorated Hakuba with doves, roses, and globs of a sticky, pink substance that nobody wanted to identify and declared it interpretive art, and outsmarted all of the detective's attempts at slipping him up and forcing him to admit he was Kid.

A typical day in the life of Kuroba Kaito.

Except for the cow that appeared during afternoon break.

Nobody knew where it came from, or how anyone could sneak it in without the secretary seeing. Besides, Kuroba had been in class the entire time. When they asked him about it, he just smiled mysteriously and said, "A magician never tells his secrets."

Kaito spent the rest of beak in the principal's office, where he amused the secretaries with a few card tricks.

It had been a good day, over all.

Just as Kaito was deciding this as he gathered his books to go home (Hakuba was still staring at him angrily. It had taken a while to clean the pink goop off), a child holding a small slip of paper entered the classroom. His sharp, intelligent eyes immediately singled the magician out. "Are you Kuroba-san?" he asked, eyes narrowing

_Chibi-tantei-kun? Well, poop,_ Kaito thought calmly. He smiled. "That's me, kiddo. Want an autograph or something?"

Conan titled his head childishly. "Not really. Could I have a caricature instead?"

Kuroba's smile froze on his face, something unprintable flicking through his mind.

If it were Hakuba confronting him, there'd be no problem. But Kudo was the kind of detective that always had conclusive evidence before challenging a criminal.

Hakuba looked over. "Edogawa-san? What are you doing here?"

The thief thought the boy would tell the British teen his deductions for one awful second, before Conan smiled, pushed his glasses up, and said, "Isn't that your business to find out, Hakuba-tantei-san?"

The two teenagers stared at the kid. Hakuba looked shocked at having been rebuked by a child- in Kid's exact words! His expression would've been funny had the situation not been so serious. "So… uh… Edogawa, right?" Kaito said casually. "Is there something I can do for you?"

He smirked, a smirk that did not belong on a child's face. "I'm here to call in a favor."


	9. Rationality

9--(Rationality)

Hakuba had always had a logical mind, sometimes even strictly so. He was a by-the-book, austere detective. Part of the reason his motto was 'why do you do this' was because he never let his mind stretch to the thought process of a killer or thief.

Then he came to Japan and all rationality went right out the window.

He met a girl with wild hair and inhuman strength, who could throw a bench at a certain friend of hers when he got too annoying. He met a magician with a cheeky smile and a ubiquitous trick up his sleeve. He met a drop-dead gorgeous witch with purple eyes who called her crystal ball Clarence. He met a child whose gaze captured every detail in one sweep. And he met a thief with a monocle and an unfathomable secret.

He had, somehow, grown to accept the impossible as well as the improbable. Even though he wouldn't admit it, he had become a better detective, and a better person.

And yet, he still hadn't caught that bloody thief. He swore briefly but eloquently as he found himself out of the equation on yet another Kid heist. He hadn't known you could do that with a coat hanger and some silly putty.


	10. Switch

--This one needs a bit of an explanation: This is my What-Detective-Conan-Would-Be-Like-If-Shinichi-Really-Was-Where-He-Said-He-Was universe. So, basically, he's away on a big, important, top secret case. Conan never existed :( Enjoy!

10--(Switch)

"SURPRISE!"

Ran gasped. All her friends and family were in her living room wearing colorful hats and holding bright packages. There was her father, her mother, Conan, Sonoko, even Heiji and Kazuha from out of town. And then there was…

"Mr. and Mrs. Kudo?" she said in surprise. Weren't they out of town? "Does… does that mean… Shinichi…!" She turned and shot another wide-eyed glance at the room, but the boy in question wasn't there.

"Sorry Ran-chan," said Yukiko. "He's still in America on his case. Also, don't call me Mrs. Kudo, it makes me feel old. I'm Yukiko-chan."

"Um, yes, Yukiko-san," Ran repeated, somewhat dazed.

"Yukiko-CHAN," she repeated sternly. "Anyway, I wanted to give you your birthday present before I have to go to an television interview with Yuusaku."

She fished around her purse for a while before her hand returned with three airplane tickets. One for her, one for Yuusaku, and one for-

The next day, Ran was sitting in an airplane seat, blushing slightly. She could hardly believe she was actually flying to America to visit Shinichi. It was so sudden too… she was still halfway in shock.

Ran fell asleep a few hours into the flight and when Yukiko woke her up with a cheerful shove, the plane had landed.

They collected their luggage and hailed a taxi and directed it to a nearby ritzy hotel. Ran was still fairly numb as they registered her into room 429 and left to their own hotel.

She stood in the middle of the lobby, staring at her luggage and the cardkey, one thought running through her mind: _How the heck did I get here?_

She shook her head and gazed around the hotel in bewilderment, feeling very out of place in the sophisticated, refined atmosphere. She reddened slightly; recalling that until then she had thought America was full of sand and cowboys.

Once she had gathered what remained of her senses and dropped her bags off at her room, she set off in search of the elusive Shinichi. Ran tried to follow the signs to room 374, but they seemed to take her to only dead ends and forks. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that she didn't know English very well. Just when she thought she was finally getting somewhere, another split road emerged. She looked back and forth between left and right. Left… right… left… right…

She shrugged hopelessly to herself and went right.

Ten minutes later, right was hopeless and Ran was lost.

She wandered desperately for a while, considering going back to the lobby and asking directions, which she should have done in the first place, when she looked up and saw a sign with the number '373'.

Ran blinked at it for a few seconds. Then she walked a few feet to the left and read 374.

She let out a deep breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding and raised her fist to knock on the door. Her hand paused an inch from the expensive wood.

_What would I say to him anyway? He's probably really busy with his case. I'd just get in the way… I should just turn back now and wait for him to come to me when he's free. In fact, he's probably working right now. He might even have some of the FBI over…_

As she thought, her hand involuntarily knocked on the door. She jerked it back to her side and took a step back, but it was too late. A muffled voice came from the other end with a bleary, "Comin', comin'…"

Ran's breath caught in her throat. She tried to think of something to say, but her brain was frozen, and her face seemed abnormally hot for some reason.

The door swung open and Shinichi came out, yawning and stirring a cup of black coffee that didn't look quite done.

His hair was tousled and unruly, and he was rubbing his eyes sleepily. It was at that moment that Ran became conscious of the time. It was five-thirty in the morning in America; of course he would be sleeping.

But before she could open her mouth to apologize, she noticed his pajamas.

The pants he was wearing looked like they were from the day before, and the shirt was almost completely unbuttoned. It hung lopsidedly, the collar sticking up oddly, in doing so exposing most of his chest.

Ran suddenly discovered that the floor was very, very interesting. "H-hi… S-Sh-Shinichi…"

His eyes abruptly snapped into focus. They widened in shock as he recognized who was in front of him, and even more as he became aware of the state of his clothes. In a split-second, Ran was holding his cup of coffee and a door was being slammed in her face.

"Shinichi?"

"One second!"

A moment later he returned, his hair halfway brushed and wearing a new, but more importantly, buttoned shirt. He quickly fastened a blue necktie under the upturned collar and took the coffee.

The two teenagers stared at each other for a few minutes before he cleared his throat uncomfortably and opened the door wider. "Wanna come in? I would've cleaned up a bit if I'd known you were coming, but… it'll do."

She stepped in. "Didn't you know I was coming? Your parents got me tickets here."

"My parents…" he repeated, a weird sort of grimace coming over his features.

Ran looked around the small hotel room. The bed was still made, but the covers were wrinkled and rumpled all over, making it look like he had come into the room and passed out the second he'd fallen into bed. Maybe he had.

Papers and books were strewn across the room, along with various clothes, a picture frame, a soccer ball, and his cell phone. A handgun lay on the dresser, only to be scooped up by the detective and tucked into his belt. Ran swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and averted her gaze quickly. A door near the entrance led to a tiny bathroom.

It was almost as bad as her father's apartment. Only there wasn't any beer.

"Where's the kitchen?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"You know," Ran said exaggeratedly. "The place where you prepare food? Unless the FBI gives you food… Do you eat out every day or something?"

"Um," said Shinichi. "No…"

She frowned at the room. "So what do you eat?"

There was a long pause.

"Microwave burritos…?" he suggested weakly.

Ran was a big believer in three healthy, substantial meals a day.

For the first time in a long while, Shinichi was laughing, running from the Ran-of-mass-destruction.


	11. Talk

11--(Talk)

She confronted him after dinner, when he was just settling down to watch some television (being a famous detective was tough work!).

"I want you to talk to Conan," she said.

Kogorou looked at her. Ran looked straight back at him. "Huh?" he asked finally.

Ran put her hands on her hips. "I _said_ I want you to talk to Conan."

"Why?"

"Because he's been here for half a year and you've barely said a word to him, except for 'get out of the way, brat!'"

"Why?"

"I guess you two just don't get along that well."

"Why?"

"Maybe because you've hardly talked at all… which gets me back to my point!"

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Why?"

"Stop saying that."

The detective bit his tongue at the look on his daughter's face. "But… what am I supposed to talk to the br- I mean, Conan, about?" he asked, adamant when it came to his TV shows.

"I don't know," she said, as if this was the stupidest question she'd heard since… well… since the 'why's. "Whatever it is you _guys_ talk about. Give him a heart-to-heart… manly-style, of course."

Kogorou was dragged off the couch, still resisting. "Can't _you_ talk to him? I'm not so good with kids…"

"Dad," Ran interjected, a dangerously pleasant edge to her voice. "Get in there. And _talk_ to the kid who's called your _apprentice._"

"…You've been watching those shows about the children who get abandoned by their families again, haven't you?"

Ran sniffed. "Maybe," she said loftily.

"Look, just because-"

"You know Dad, I'm wearing pants today."

The Sleeping Detective blinked at his daughter. "Yes. Yes, you are."

"Something I've noticed through the years… I can do karate so much better when I'm wearing pants…."

Her sentence trailed off meaningfully.

Kogorou gulped. "I just got this great idea… I think I'll go talk to the b_- Conan_."

"That's a wonderful idea, Dad," Ran agreed amiably.

So there he was, entering Conan's room for the first time, while the boy entertained himself with a comic book. Conan glanced up briefly at the sound of his footsteps and then went back to his own stuff. Exactly what Kogorou wished _he_ could be doing right then.

"Hey," the older man began, after a long, awkward silence.

"Hey," Conan replied.

"You good?"

"I'm pretty good."

"Just… good? Or GOOD good?"

"Pretty good," he repeated.

Well, that didn't work. Ever the one to persevere, Kogorou tried a different tack. "What're you doing?"

Conan quirked one eyebrow sardonically and gestured to his book. "You tell me, O great detective."

Aside from the sudden urge to strangle the kid, Mouri Kogorou was pretty satisfied with the answer. At least he got more than two words out of the brat.

"My work here is done," he said, turning and walking out of the room into blessed refuge, feeling very accomplished.


	12. Traumatized

12--(Traumatized)

It was a normal spring morning; the cheerful weather betrayed the horrors to come. Conan woke up. He looked around blearily for a while before dragging himself out of bed and padding to the bathroom.

It was all so blameless, so… innocent and habitual, that he didn't think twice about going into Ran's bathroom when the other one seemed to be taken. What awaited him there was scarcely thinkable.

Little squares wrapped in green plastic paper littered the floors, along with a small box labeled 'Playtex' and some purple, curved pieces of cloth. A bundle lay on the countertop swathed in toilet paper, but it was obvious what was on it despite the careful casing; blood was soaking through the entire parcel.

Conan stood blinking in the doorway for a minute.

Then he turned calmly, padded to his room, and went back to sleep


	13. Voice

13--(Voice)

A detective is more than just a critic trying to follow a crook. A detective is an unspoken voice.

There is one person in a murder case who never gets a say: the victim. The victim remains mute, trapped in the silence of death. His hands have been stilled forever. One more person who will never come home again.

A detective is a release past death. He or she frees the victim's voice, for however long, and puts them to rest, so their voices can truly be quieted. A detective is their voice. That's their job.

A detective speaks for the victim, and some say even _with_ the victim. A few spiritualists claim that the murdered person's spirit connects with the detective's and guides him to the killer. Ironically, most detectives take this as an insult to their intelligence, keeping instead to the belief that ghosts and spirits don't exist. They hold fast to Sherlock Holmes's theory: observation, knowledge, deduction.

Nevertheless, whether detectives are truly just vessels for the victim's soul or not is inapplicable. They are the voice. They are the bridge between life and death, and at the same time, the barrier. They are an unspoken voice.


	14. Gadgets

13--(Gadgets)

Conan's watch was an amazing piece of technology. Not only could it shoot tranquilizer darts, turn into a flashlight, and be used as a tracker, but it could take pictures, zoom in on a target, and self-destruct if necessary. It had an intricate web of wires inside that could read his pulse, and the strap held small objects. There was only one more thing Conan could possibly ask for:

"It would be nice if it actually told time," he muttered.

Professor Agasa grinned sheepishly. "I'm working on that…"


	15. X Marks the Spot

15--(x marks the spot)

Hakuba and Kuroba were polar opposites, from their names to their hair to their personalities.

In Kaito's opinion, Hakuba-the-detective was nothing more than a doofus of a cosplayer. However, Hakuba-the-classmate was reasonably smart, and fun to play with.

In Hakuba's opinion, Kaito-the-Kaitou was an excruciating pain in the rear end, but for some reason, he couldn't stop himself from obsessively trying to catch him. However, Kaito-the-classmate was ALSO an excruciating pain in the rear end, but for some reason, he couldn't stop himself from obsessively trying to catch him.

In short, it was a love/hate relationship.

…With very limited love.

Possibly the only thing the two teenagers had in common was the affection for their pet birds.

Kaito had several doves that he used in his magic tricks. They were exceptionally well trained and undyingly faithful and, much to the Kaitou's pride, flawless performers. Some of them had even been trained by his father, which only served to heighten his fondness for them.

Watson, Hakuba's hawk, was like the original Watson: a trusty sidekick, a clever observer, and a loyal friend. She had sharp red eyes and strong, beautiful wings, and she liked to preen herself, which inevitably caused some sort of remark from Kaito about how pets really are just like their owners. On the other hand, she was bright, graceful, and noble, and Saguru found himself a little bit happy to be compared to her.

At any rate, there was really only one major difference between the two birds:

Kaito's doves could do tricks.

One day Kuroba taught them how to… well… do their business specifically on things that are yellow.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you are), Hakuba was blond.

School had just let out and the juniors were preparing to part ways when…

SPLAT.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Kuroba…"

"Yes?"

SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT SPLAT.

There was an even longer moment of silence.

"KUROBAAAA…."

"Yeeeees?"

In the short while that followed, there was a very, very long list of British expletives, accompanied by a heated chase and a manically laughing magician shouting over his shoulder, "Down boy! Bad detective, bad! Heel!"


	16. Yoyo

16--(Yo-yo)

Haibara was in one of her sullen moods. And when she got sullen, she got philosophical.

That particular Wednesday, Conan was being subjected to one of her philosophy sessions.

He had been innocently hanging out at the professor's house, playing video games and messing around, when Ai wandered in with a yo-yo and a frighteningly blank expression.

"This yo-yo is your soul," she said.

Conan blinked.

She carefully drew the yoyo downward on its string, allowing it to sleep at the bottom for a few moments before pulling it up again and snapping it back into her hand.

"The end."

"Excuse me?" said Conan, thoroughly confused.

"As your life goes on, you go from bad to worse," she explained monotonously, repeating the procedure. "At one point or another, you get to the absolute possible worst." Conan watched the sleeping yoyo curiously. "Then you slowly begin to ascend," Ai continued, "until, when you finally get to the point that you can really be happy again—"

The toy flicked into her tiny palm. "You die."

The two children were silent for a very long time.

Finally, the boy smiled. "That's a wonderful theory Haibara."

"What are you talking about?" Haibara deadpanned, giving him a withering look.

"Here, just watch!" he replied, grabbing the yoyo and sending it down and up again. "No matter what point of life you are at, you have something to appreciate: if you're at the very bottom, you can only get better, right? And even if you're about to die, you're right at the top. You're right Haibara, life isn't like a sinking rock; it's like a yoyo. It always comes back up again."

Ai glared at him, snatching the toy away. "You keep messing up my metaphors. Moron."

Nevertheless, she continued playing with it for the rest of the afternoon, watching it spin up and down over and over again with something like a smile.


	17. Comparisons

17--(Comparison)

The zoo was an endlessly fascinating place. That is, until you hit puberty.

From then on, it's at best a slight amusement, at worst a nagging irritation.

Anyway, children seemed to like it. Conan had to wonder why.

By the time their group had gotten to the birdhouse, he was just about done with keeping up his cheerfulness, and had retreated to a nearby bench to attempt recollecting what was left of his sanity. Honestly, if he had to hear one more of Mitsuhiko's 'intelligent' explanations (Fir trees give us wool indeed. He wasn't even going to ask where half those conclusions, like 'bugs make the grass grow', came from. He never had any of those crackpot theories when he was their age), he was going to scream. Mix in Ayumi's high-pitched shriek at every moving organism she could lay her eyes on, Genta's boasting, and Ai's biting sarcasm, and Conan was on the verge of doing something drastic.

"Look, I'm a chickadee!" Ayumi cried just then.

"No, you're a girl," Mitsuhiko replied, ever the voice of reason.

She frowned. "Well, for now I'm a chickadee. If I were a bird, I think I would be a chickadee."

"Hmm…" Ai smiled slightly. "I'd like to be a cardinal. It's such a pretty color."

Since the girls were into it, the guys jumped to join in and impress them, carefully choosing birds for themselves as well.

Conan perked up. It certainly was an interesting idea…

A swan floating regally across a roped-off pond caught his eye. Ran, he thought immediately. The swan is Ran.

A dozing owl shifted unconsciously on its branch. The owl is Heiji, Shinichi decided, because it's only sharp in certain circumstances.

The duck reminded him of Kazuha, Kaito quickly became the dove, Hakuba was a hawk, while Akako was a peacock, and a robin was dubbed to Aoko. Gin was a crow.

"Hey, you guys," Conan called from his bench. "Which bird am I?"

The children thought for a second before Ai said, "A pigeon."

"Huh?"

"Because you're not black and white, you're different shades of gray. And besides," she grinned somewhat teasingly. "You can find one of you anywhere."

The meitantei was not amused. "Har-dee-har-har."


End file.
